Lost
by Pyro and Darnet co
Summary: When a girl crash lands into a Care of Magical Creatures class, normality in Hogwarts seems to be lost. Life will never be the same again and JK Rowling's beloved tale takes a different route when the flock arrives at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello lovelies! This is our new story LOST. People who have been following us before might think this looks familiar, but we've rewritten it and changed some things. If you haven't been following us for a long time, no need to worry like we said this story has changed.**

 **We hope you like it and we do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride.**

 **~Pyro and Darnet**

Chapter One: Wolfie

We flew over the vast expanse of trees, my midnight black wings carrying me steadily as I flew alongside my family. Max was at the front, no surprise there, she prided herself on being the leader of the flock. Fang was right beside her, he was known as her right hand man. My brother was the man in the shadows, it was also clear to the rest of us that they were in the denial stage of their relationship. Iggy was next in the V formation; the pyromaniac was in discussion with his sidekick, Gazzy. They were giggling and plotting together which is a very worrying prospect. Next down the line was Nudge, she was rambling to Angel, who was behind her, about needing a break, and I couldn't blame my sister. At the rear of the V was Angel and I.

Being at the back didn't bother me too much, I liked blending in and analyzing everything. Fang and I shared in our love of the shadows. I was glad I had tied my long black hair back for a change, the cold harsh wind was blowing towards us in what seemed like a rage. I hugged my dark coat close, shivering slightly. It was cold on the ground, but up this high in the air made it even colder.

"My wings are going to freeze off!" Nudge shouted, shivering as well, "It's like abnormally cold." I frowned slightly, she had a point. We'd all flown through cold weather, but this was something else. Angel made a big show of breathing out her mouth and then giggled.

"Yeah, you can see your breath and everything!" She smiled and Gazzy joined in on his sister's antics.

"Guys, quit complaining, we'll land soon enough," Max shouted to us, she shot a quick glare to the back. It was usually us complaining.

"Max, this feels wrong," I said, scanning our surroundings, "This is not a normal cold." I added, hoping she would listen for a change. Max just sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"Wolfie, just keep flying," Max snapped and Fang shook his head.

"Now is not the time to fight," he muttered.

"We aren't fighting!" Max said, "I'm telling."

"Guys.." I said, interrupting the fighting couple. A dark cloaked figure had appeared in front of the flock. It had a skeleton like hand reaching toward us, and a gaping hole for a mouth. The air around it seemed to drop in temperature even more and I had a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I would never be happy again.

"What?!" They both turned to look at me, looking angry.

"I just thought you'd like to know about creepy cloaked dude!" I said pointing to the cloaked man, or well, what I assumed was a man. The flock sprang into action, all getting into a fighting stance. But this attacker was different. This wasn't the human-lupine hybrids we were used to fighting, this was something completely different.

Before we could attack, however, more cloaked men rose into the sky. I felt a pressure in my chest and a screaming in my ears, I couldn't identify the owner. I felt like I would never be happy again, that all those memories of me and my family having fun and just being normal kids were sucked from me. It just felt like a black cloud was swarming around me. I could hear Fang screaming my name as my world went dark and I lost consciousness, knowing that I was falling from the sky.

"Is it dead?"

"Lavender, she is not an it!" Came the sound of an English girl's voice. I groaned, opening my eyes to a blurry world. When my vision had returned to normal and I felt like I could breathe properly I finally took in my surroundings. A group of kids, all who looked about my age were looking down and me from all around me. A girl with bushy brown hair was looking down at me, flanking her sides was a boy with bright ginger hair and another boy with dark hair and a lightning bolt scar. I did what any sensible bird kid would do in my situation. I screamed bloody murder, jumped up and fled. I only made it as far a old worn down hut before I saw a giant staring down at me, and I'm not exaggerating when I say giant.

"Who are you people?!" I yelled, I'd seen some strange shit in my life and this was reaching the top of the strange shit list. I searched around wildly, looking for any signs of my family. Had the strange cloaked men captured them? Why had I passed out? Where the hell was I?

"Now calm down," the giant said, "Yeh've had a nasty fall an' yeh'll need ter go ter the infirmary." I took a step back,

"Oh heck no giant man, I'm not going to no infirmary," I knew that was just a fancy name for torture chamber and I'm a smart person, I chose not to go to torture chambers. I realized that the rest of the group was staring predominantly at my back, but this was not my main concern. I needed to find my family, to make sure they were safe. The giant had other plans however, he scooped me up easily. I punched, I kicked, I screamed and I even considered biting.

"Don' panic, Madam Pomfrey'll fix you righ' up," the giant continued to ramble. I was now in hysterics by this point. Kicking with all my might, ignoring the stabbing pain in my ribs, I probably had a sprained wing as well. "'ll get Dumbledore." He continued to say, like a mantra. I was clinging to walls with my hands, gripping at anything that might slow us down. I didn't care if I looked like a crazed bird kid. All I cared about was finding my family, seeing they were safe.

The giant dragged me down halls until he reached a room that smelled of disinfectant. My senses went on overdrive. Every bird kid knew the smell of disinfectant, and every bird kid knew to fly like the wind when you get close to it. The giant ignored my clear protesting and took me into a room that was lined with beds. Lights shone through the big windows, so that the room wasn't as daunting. It was white and clean and smelled exactly like an infirmary would. I didn't like it one bit. I continued to kick and scream.

"Madam Pomfrey!" The giant shouted, trying to get a better hold of me. A woman (I'm took a wild guess and said that's Madam Pomfrey) appeared. Her hair was pulled back and she had a kind, but strict face.

"Hagrid? What is the meaning of this, who is this?" Madam Pomfrey asked. The giant (now named Hagrid) went on to explain how I had appeared as Pomfrey instructed her to sit me down on the bed. It was a struggle, but with Hagrid pinning me down, the woman fed me some weird tasting drink. I felt my eyes get heavy as she muttered on about foolish children. My world was engulfed in darkness once again as I passed out for the second time that day.

"Wolfie!" I heard Nudge's voice through my dreamy haze. "Wolfie!" Her voice was more annoyed this time as I snuggled my pillow. "WOLFIE!" I jumped awake to see my flock staring back at me, all with relieved faces. They all looked battered and bruised as well, but they didn't look ready to flee. "Thank god, you're okay! We were so worried, we didn't know what had happened, all those weird men came from the sky and we didn't know what to do and then this old man found as and took us here and-"

"NUDGE!" The flock yelled in unison.

"Sorry, I was worried!" Nudge muttered. I frowned, I had actually managed to follow what my sister was ranting about.

"What old man?" I asked.

"He said his name was Dumbledore." Angel said, hugging me. That was the second person to say that man's name.

"Who's Dumbledore?" I asked.

"I am." Came a man's voice. The flock turned to look at the owner of the voice. A man with a long silver beard, half-moon glasses and twinkling eyes smiled at us. "Welcome, to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry." I blinked, where the heck had we crashed landed?

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride, they belong to JK Rowling and James Patterson respectively.**

Chapter Two: Cassidy

I watched in shock as the girl with wings fell from the sky. The class around me all stood, mouths open as she landed with a thud in the centre of the class. No one knew what to do, did we approach her? Did we check to make sure she was living?

After a while she had yet to move, her dark hair was fanning her face, her skin incredibly pale. Her eyes were closed, she looked like she had passed out. Mind you having fallen from a great height like that I would have been surprised if she was still living. The first person to move was Potter, closely followed by his sidekicks, Weasley and Granger. We all let them make the first move, if the bird girl was wild then they could all die first, I'd happily stand in the back and watch. Turned out, she was still unconscious from her plummet to the earth.

After a while the rest of us worked up the courage to venture forward as well, we all crowded around her, looking for signs of life.

"Is it dead?" Lavender Brown said, she was one of my rather annoying dorm mates, who would often speak her mind.

"Lavender, she is not an it!" Granger snapped at her. Potter looked rather sheepish and Sidekick-Weasley just looked confused, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. The girl had now started to move, she let out a groan that sounded like she was in a lot of pain. She opened her eyes for a split second before squeezing them shut again. It was clear to us that the girl was in a lot of pain, and we all cast worried looks to one another. That was when the girl let out a blood curdling scream, jumped up and made a run for it. We all jumped back in shock, personally I worked my way behind a group of Slytherins. The girl made it as far as Hagrid's hut, but she wasn't looking where she was running and ran face first into Hagrid.

"Who are you people?!" The girl yelled, traveling backwards. Now, you might be thinking the most shocking thing about this girl were her black wings, but to top it off, she was American. What was an American doing in Hogwarts?

I didn't really pay much attention to the chaos that was Hagrid corralling the girl into the castle. But he shouted at the rest of the class to stay put, that he was going to get Dumbledore. After he left, there was a long pause, like a universal confusion running through the class.

"Well…that was certainly interesting," Came Pansy Parkinson's voice, turned out even the Slytherins were so shocked that they didn't have any snide remarks on the matter. We thought that the day couldn't get any more confusing, until we heard a roar. I turned, a girl with curly black hair with a white streak through it and mocha coloured skin was running toward us. She looked the definition of furious.

"Wolfie!" She yelled, running in the direction of where Hagrid had dragged the other bird girl. I say other because this one also had wings and was also American. It seemed like American bird kids were a thing, because another girl, this one older, was running after her. This girl had short dirty blonde hair, and grabbed the mocha skinned girl by the arms.

"Nudge! Stop! We need to head back before…." I was going to take a wild guess that the older girl was going to say, 'before we get spotted' but the two other kids must have realised there was a whole class of kids watching them. A whole class of kids who had now drawn their wands.

Mayhem ensured after that, before any of us could shoot a spell, four birds kids shot from the forest. I noted that they all ranged in age now, they no longer looked like the first girl, whom I had assumed was the same age as the rest of us.

"Scram!" A Slytherin shouted, clearly deciding he didn't want to take on a flock of bird kids, not that I blamed him. But we couldn't just run away. I began with a simple spell, stupefy, to at least stun one of the rabid bird kids that was making his way toward me. He didn't take well to be shot at because the strawberry blonde kid had now started to dive toward me. I jumped out the way as he growled,

"Where is Wolfie?!" He yelled, I don't know if it was to me, or if it was a question to the surrounding population.

"I'm sorry, who?" I asked, backing away. They seemed rather confused on how our wands were shooting spells at them and my reply to the kid in front of me seemed to enrage him even more. It was Witch vs Bird kid.

Luckily, someone in the class had run inside and alerted a Professor who had cast a spell and the fighting halted. We all turned, even the bird kids, and looked to Dumbledore. He didn't seem shocked, he didn't even seem angry, he just appeared to be amused by the whole situation and that irritated me to no end.

"Now," Dumledore said calmly, "I would like to invite our guests to the hospital wing, where their friend has been taken," He continued, "As for my students, class has been dismissed, please go to your common rooms."

-oOo-

The bird kids were the talk of the school, even after we attended classes after Care of Magical Creatures. Every corner I passed, some group was huddled up discussing where they had come from and what they were. Felicity told me that the rumours ranged from somewhat believable to insane, one Ravenclaw girl had started a rumour that they had been raised in the Forbidden Forest by the Centaurs and it shocked me that people actually believed it.

"I mean, they were like wild animals," Lavender Brown said in the dorm that night as we were all going to bed.

"They were scared," Hermione snapped to Lavender, "One girl fell from the sky! Those Dementors must have terrified them." Hermione shook her head, clearly distained at Lavender. I had to agree with Granger, Dementors would freak out any sane person.

"How do we know they aren't helping Sirius Black, and this is all a big show to sneak him into the castle?" She continued, ignoring Granger, looking to Parvati Patil for support.

"That seems pretty far-fetched," Patil argued, "I mean, all that to get into the castle?"

"Why not?" Brown argued, "Black would do anything, wouldn't he? And don't forget about Alohomora, she's probably helping him!" I thought she had officially lost it.

"Alohomora and Sirius Black? Using bird kids to get into the castle? Well I've heard it all now," I said, shaking my head. "Don't be so stupid." Apparently, that wasn't the right thing to say.

"I can't believe you of all people are defending Alohomora," Brown said. I stood up, glaring at her.

"I'm not defending anyone!" I snapped, "I'm saying your idea that these kids are helping them is idiotic!" Before I could advance however, Granger stepped in.

"Let's calm down." She stated, looking between me and Brown, "Bringing up the Blacks in front of Cassidy was very insensitive, Lavender," She said, "And I do agree with Cassidy that it is a wild notion, now please, let's all just go to sleep." Granger pleaded. Brown and I glared at one another for a little longer before I climbed into bed. I did not want to talk about the Blacks, I wanted to forget they even existed. I made a big show of turning away from them and closed my eyes tightly.

"You can all think what you want, but I think those kids are animals and are going to be nothing but trouble. They are connected to the Blacks, you'll see." Brown said, none of us commented. But I turned to look at the spare bed next to me that had been there since we had gotten the dorm, but we had all noted it had new sheets on it. Brown could say she distrusted the bird kids all she wanted, but it looked like we were going to get a new roommate.

-oOo-

I was woken up by someone knocking into my bed, I sat up quickly disorientated in the dark. I looked around to see dark grey eyes staring back up at me.

"Sorry," came the American accent of the girl who had fallen from the sky.

"It's…It's alright," I said. I wasn't used to people addressing me directly and something about her eyes seemed haunting. I shook my head. For the first time I noted how short she was and she looked just like a normal girl with her wings not showing. I followed her as she sat on the bed next to me, she looked battered and bruised, but her fall from grace might have caused that. "I'm Cassidy Grayson," I said, I had no idea how to interact with her and I thought introducing myself would be a start.

"I'm Wolfie," the girl introduced herself. I nodded, well at least I knew who the boy was about to punch me over.

"Well…nice to meet you and all," I said shifting awkwardly. How do you even interact with people? Especially at this time of night and considering I was tired. I needed to get some sleep so I could do well in classes tomorrow. Wolfie didn't seem to mind that I was awake and talking to her and started to rummage in her bag for something. "What are you…?" I didn't even get much time to finish as she pulled out clean clothes and just started stripping. I didn't know where to look, but seeing wings attached to a human being was an odd experience. "Goodnight then." I turned away from her and stared at the wall across from me. Wolfie didn't reply for a while, I guessed she was getting ready for bed.

"Night, Cass." That just made me feel weirder, no one called me Cass.

"Uh, night." I turned back to look at Wolfie and saw she had already fallen asleep. She was laying on her stomach and her wings were showing. It looked strangely like the angel of death had decided to take a nap. I looked over at Brown, she thought that these bird kids would bring nothing but trouble. I hoped that she was wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

**We do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride.**

Chapter Three: Wolfie

I awoke to the sound of high pitched giggling and was extremely disorientated by the sound, the only gigglers in the flock were Nudge and Angel and it didn't sound like them. I stretched and opened my eyes, the sunlight streaming into the window blinded me. I turned and sat up and saw the owners of the giggling. Two girls, one I knew was called Lavender due to the fact she asked if I had died or not when I had crash landed. I turned to my right and saw that Cassidy, the girl whom I had woken up last night, didn't look too amused to be woken up either.

"What in Merlin's name are you two doing?" Cassidy asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. I personally rolled my eyes and snuggled under the covers again.

"Oh, lighten up," Lavender said, "Parvati and I are just having a laugh," Lavender added and the other girl next to her, whom I assumed was Parvati nodded. Cassidy made a distained noise and sat up, I watched the interaction between the girls and it was clear that they didn't get along. I watched as Cassidy grabbed a brush and a towel and walked into a separate room, which I assumed was the bathroom. "She can be such an old fart," Lavender muttered and turned back to Parvati.

"Don't mind them," a girl with bushy brown hair said, she was now standing in front of me. "I mean, they are snappy with each other but they aren't enemies by any means." She added and cast a friendly smile in my direction, "I'm Hermione Granger," She said in greeting.

"I'm Wolfie," I had got the jist of the 'introducing yourself' thing.

"I'm sorry, did you say your name was Wolfie?" Lavender asked and snorted, giving a great impression of a pig.

"Yeah," I shrugged, I got that the flock had weird names. I saw Hermione give Lavender a look and Lavender didn't make any further comments.

"Well, it's great to meet you," Hermione added and with that the girls in the room all started to get changed for the day. I looked around and spotted a uniform sitting on my bed. Last night Dumbledore had told us he'd have fresh uniforms brought to our room and it looked like he had stuck to his word.

After we'd all dressed, Cassidy emerged from the bathroom. Her long, golden blonde hair was tied back, she was neatly dressed, her tie comfortably place and her robes clean and pristine. Her sapphire blue eyes looked over at those of us in the room. I looked down at my own thrown on uniform, Cass clearly liked having everything just right and in place, I on the other hand couldn't care less. I was used to Nudge dressing us, seeing as whatever Nudge was wearing that day, I would just wear the same thing. "Well...?" Cass said, "Are you all just going to stand gawking at me or are we going down to breakfast?" That caused a movement among the girls. I followed behind the group outside, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My dark wavy hair sat just below my shoulders, and I had a few cuts and scrapes on my face. Madam Pomfrey had healed most of my injuries in the Hospital Wing so I was just left with a few war wounds. I followed the girls down the stairs and into the cozy Gryffindor common room.

"Wolfie!" I turned and saw that Max and Iggy were both waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. "We tried to go up and get you," Max explained, "But there was some weird enchantment on the staircase that wouldn't let Iggy go up." She didn't sound all too happy about it either. Max was still apprehensive about this whole thing; it had taken her being out-voted for us to be able to stay. I stood next to Iggy and tapped the back of his hand twice to let him know I was there.

"Took you long enough, Little Wolf," Iggy cast a smile in my direction.

"I didn't know that the pair of you would be waiting on me, I thought you'd have just gone down to breakfast." I rolled my eyes.

"Max wanted to make sure that you were safe, she doesn't trust anyone here," Iggy said with a shrug.

"That doesn't exactly surprise me," I said, looking between Max and Iggy. Max just shook her head and started to walk ahead, I gave Iggy my arm to help lead him down to the great hall. It was hard for a blind kid to navigate Hogwarts, especially since the staircases moved and that was disorientating enough for those of us who could see. I had found it odd when Iggy had asked me to help him navigate last night, I was so used to him just knowing what to do I had forgotten how scary this must be for him. I didn't mention this though; it had embarrassed him enough last night asking for help.

"Hey guys!" Nudge called, running toward us. She was wearing the same thing I was, only her robes had a different crest (Hers had a Badger, mine had a lion) and her tie was yellow and black, unlike mine which was red and gold. "Look, these uniforms are cool. Apart from the colour scheme on mine, I mean yellow and black come on, how gross is that? Why would anyone want to wear that! Your colours are nice, red and gold go and—"

"Nudge!" Iggy said, slapping his hand over her mouth.

"Sorry," came her muffled reply. It made me laugh a little bit. Nudge came to my side, looping my arms with hers and started talking animatedly to me. I had been close to Nudge for a long time so I had learnt the art of looking like I was listening but instead I was thinking about breakfast. But, when Max opened the door, Nudge went silent, her mouth gawking open and I probably looked the exact same.

The great hall was huge and as I looked up, the ceiling looked like the sky outside. I looked around and saw Fang sitting at a table with a lot a green. He waved at us and continued to eat his breakfast, listening to a boy next to him. It was odd, we were missing some of our flock and Fang hadn't even come up to meet us. I knew I didn't like this house thing from the get go, and I hated it even more when Nudge removed herself from my side.

"We need to sit at different tables, I'm a Hufflepuff," Nudge said seeing my face, "I know its odd Wolfie, we are always together, but we need to follow the rules."

"Don't worry about me, Nudge," I said forcing a smile on my face so she wouldn't feel guilty. "Go sit with your house." Nudge let out a delighted squeal, hugged me and ran off. I felt Iggy tug my arm and I turned to look at him.

"Let's go eat, Little Wolf," Iggy smiled, I just nodded and followed Max and sat at the table that's colour seemed to be red. I sat in-between Iggy and Max and frowned, I had expected Angel and Gazzy to be down here as well.

"Where are Angel and Gazzy?" I asked, that caused Max to frown.

"They eat in the kitchen; Dumbledore didn't want to cause too much disruption." She didn't sound pleased at all by this and I didn't blame her. When we were told we could attend the school, I had been super excited, up until I learnt that Angel and Gazzy were too young to attend. The solution to this situation hadn't been found yet, Angel and Gazzy were currently living in a room in the teacher's quarters as Dumbledore needed to find permanent living arrangements for them, which he said may take a while. Max had also only agreed to it as long as she got to approve where they were placed. To be honest, I had been surprised she'd even agreed to that. I started to eat my breakfast, it was all so odd. I didn't think we'd be here that long anyway, Erasers always found a way to ruin things like this.

"Come on, apparently we've got shopping to do," Max grumbled.

-oOo-

I came to one conclusion that day: I hate shopping, no matter what we are shopping for. When you have Nudge for a sister, you don't just go into a shop for a few minutes, you go into a shop for hours. Hagrid escorted us, showing us all around Diagon Alley. Apparently, Hogsmeade didn't have all the shops we needed, so we used this weird substance called Floo Powder and travelled Santa style. Travelling Santa style however made the flock violently ill, and the trip back wasn't much better. Anyway, after searching and searching for all the stuff we need, we finally got to return to Hogwarts. My favourite item that we got was my wand. It was pine, 9 2/3 inches and had a phoenix feather core. Mr Olivander said it was quite old, and was very supple. It was died black, and curved at the bottom like a claw. My favourite part of it however was the engraved wolf, which was howling at a silver moon. It was certainly a nice inside joke. Once we returned, we were to go to classes. We had yet to pick our classes, due to the fact we were to see what it was like first. We also had to do extra lessons in order to catch up on what we missed. In my opinion, Nudge had it the easiest as she only needed to catch up on a single missed year.

So I found myself in potions, with the bat like Professor who was named Severus Snape. I didn't particularly like the man, and the man didn't seem to particularly like anyone else. Well…except maybe his Slytherins. I was Cass' partner, and she didn't seem to be overly thrilled with it. The girl was kind of a mystery to me. She had the instructions out and looked at me, somewhat harshly. Her cold blue eyes made me want to take a step away from her, or run screaming to Hermione, whom I seemed to get along with quite well.

"I am not failing this class; do you understand?" Cass snapped.

"Ugh…ma'am, yes ma'am," I replied, my humour did not go down well at all.

"Just follow the instructions," Cass added, her glare reinforcing her dislike for the situation. I looked over the directions, I mean how hard could potions be? It would just be like cooking. So, I began to add the ingredients to the pot. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly: Snape for the most part left Cass and I alone, he seemed much more occupied with Harry. And, the potion seemed to be cooking relatively well. That was until I looked inside the pot. According to the directions, the potion should have been a smooth consistency and a blackish colour. Our potion, our potion was a bubbling green pot of goo. I turned to Cass,

"I think something has gone wrong," I announced. She frowned and walked over, her face went from shocked to angry.

"What did you do!" She called, utterly distained.

"I just followed the directions!" I snapped.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Okay! Did you add wormswood, finely chopped?"

"Yep."

"The pigs feet?"

"Of course!"

"Did you stir it clockwise and then add salt?"

"I uh... no, no I did not." I muttered, at this point in time Snape had come over to our table to investigate.

"You idiot!" Cass called, the potion started to make a strange gargling noise.

"What is-" Snape didn't get to finish his question. Someone in the back of the class had screamed and then,

"IT'S GOING TO BLOW!" Called a Gryffindor kid. The whole class got under their tables, the whole class accept Snape, Cass and I. It was like a never ending shower of green goo raining down on us. For a minute or two, all I could see was green. By the time I had cleared the goo away from my eyes, all I saw was Snape, covered from head to two, glaring down at Cass and I. Cass was making a noise that didn't sound human and as I looked around, the whole room was covered in it. From the walls, to the ceiling, to the desks. The class, who had dived under the tables looked unscaved however. I turned back to look at Snape and smiled sheepishly at him.

"Detention," He growled and looked between Cass and I, "The pair of you, you shall stay behind after class and scrub this room clean, without magic!" He swept away, walking down between the tables, "Class dismissed, get out the rest of you!" The rest of the class didn't need to be told twice, they all fled from the room. Leaving Cass and I alone.

"I can't believe it! I have never had detention! I have never failed a potion. This is the end, this is when my bad reputation starts!" I went to butt into her ramblings, but the girl was on a par with Nudge. "I'll get detention all the time, I'll start to fail classes. Do you know what that means? I'll never get a job, I'll never succeed in anything, I'll be homeless, I'll be a failure!" I was in shock, I never knew one little detention could unravel a person quite so much.

"Cassidy, it's going to be fine. It's just one detention," I tried to calm her down, but it didn't seem to be helping. In fact, it angered her more.

"One! One! One is how it starts, how your life is flushed down the drain!" She wailed. I took a step back from the crazy goo covered girl.

"Look, just breathe." She paused and sat down, she seemed to be trying to comprehend what had just happened. "Look, Snape left us a bucket and a brush, I'll start cleaning. You just…just take some deep calming breaths." In Cass' defence, she listened to me. I began to clean, scrubbing as fast as I could. After I was halfway done, Cass started on the other half of the room. We didn't talk much, but cleaning a whole dungeon together, you create a bond with that person.

Snape let us leave once he had inspected our work. We both went to our dorm, having missed dinner. We showered, changed and crawled into bed, utterly exhausted. After a moment of silence, I had to break it.

"I'm sorry I caused the potion to explode," I said, turning to look at Cass.

"It's okay. I may have over reacted…just a smidge," Cass said, "But only a smidge."

"Of course, just a little," I even managed to keep a straight face while saying it.

"Although, seeing Snape covered in goo, that was priceless," She smirked.

"Yeah, I mean did you see his face?" I made a horrendous impersonation of Snape. Cass and I erupted into giggles of laughter.

"Do you two mind!" Lavender snapped, "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Oh lighten up! Cass and I are just having a laugh," I said, echoing her words from this morning. "I mean you can be such an old fart, Lavender." This caused Cass and I to have another round of laughter. Lavender scowled and closed her curtains, outraged.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride.**

Chapter Four: Cassidy

It was Halloween, and a buzz was about the castle just like any holiday. It was the first Hogsmeade visit, which I had just returned from. I had stocked up on butterbeer, sweets and some books and had actually enjoyed the visit. The bird kids had been here for three weeks now, and we didn't see much of them. A lot of rumours had gone around but Wolfie had told me it was because they needed to catch up on a lot of stuff. It also meant that Wolfie didn't get to go to Hogsmeade, so I ventured out myself. Felicity, my cousin, had gone into Hogsmeade with Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Blustrode and Tracey Davis. So of course, I wasn't invited. It didn't bother me too much, the idea of spending a day with Pansy Parkinson seemed as fun eating Hippogriff dung.

"Is that a cat?" Brown said as I walked into the dorm. I had stumbled across an injured cat on my travels and I didn't have the heart to just leave it there to die.

"No, it's clearly a dog," Wolfie said rolling her eyes. She was surrounded by a bunch of books and looked rather frazzled. I didn't envy the bird kids for what they had to catch up on.

"Oh, ha ha," Brown pouted and went back to doing her own homework. I held the cat in my arms. The cat was a gingery colour, with tiger like markings on its legs, black splodges on its back and a white belly. Its golden eyes looked around the room and she meowed as if she completely unimpressed by the whole situation. I sat her on my bed and she continued to not put any weight on her right paw.

"What's even up it?" Wolfie asked, frowning and moving away from my bed slightly.

"I think she's damaged her paw, she refused to move when I tried to help so I had to pick her up and bring her here," I shrugged. I scratched behind her ear and she purred slightly.

"What's her name?" Brown asked, looking up from her books.

"She's a stray cat, she doesn't have a name," I rolled my eyes.

"Well…you could name her," Brown suggested. She for once had a point, but what do people even name cats?

"How about Bagheera," Wolfie piped up. Both Brown and I stared blankly at her, "You know…the Jungle Book?"

"The jungle what?" Brown said, completely confused, "Since when does the jungle have a book?" Wolfie sighed in exasperation.

"It's a Disney film," She shrugged.

"Is that a muggle thing?" I asked,

"Muggle?" It was Wolfie's turn to be confused.

"A non-magical being," I explained.

"Oh..I guess so.." Wolfie added.

"Oh well, we don't watch muggle things." I explained as the cat (now named Bagheera) made herself comfortable on my bed.

"We should go down to the feast," Wolfie piped up, she had a habit of changing the subject randomly. Also, the girl was constantly hungry. And as if her stomach had read my thoughts, it gave a spectacular growl. "Yep, let's go get food!"

-oOo-

I sat next to Wolfie at the feast, although I was holding Bagheera in my arms and she was making it hard to eat anything. I'd been afraid to leave her up in the room encase (A) she destroyed it and (B) she injured herself further. Bagheera didn't seem overly pleased, but she seemed a little bit happier when Hermione, who was sitting across from me, started to feed her bits of the feast. I looked around, the Halloween feast was always grand at Hogwarts. The candles had been replaced with floating pumpkins and there was way too much food to name. The House elves had out done themselves. Wolfie was on her third plate, and looking at the other bird kids, she was being pretty tame. I mean, she could rival Sidekick-Weasley and that was saying something. I scanned the Great Hall and spotted Felicity in among the Slytherins. My cousin wasn't hard to find with her thick dark curly hair and her medium dark skin tone. She was with Parkinson, Greengrass, Davis and Bulstrode again and the four girls were talking to one of the bird kids, I had spoken to Wolfie and she had told me his name was Fang. I could tell by their body language and the way they were twirling their hair that they liked him. I also noted Fang wasn't returning the other girls advances and was currently eating as fast as humanly possible. I still had to discuss with her the message our Aunt Isabelle had sent me, apparently I was the more trusted one. I stood up, holding Bagheera in my arms and Wolfie looked up,

"Where are you going?" She asked, thankfully she had better manners than Sidekick-Weasley.

"I'm just going to discuss something with my cousin," I replied.

"Is that the one about to sit in Fang's lap?" Wolfie said, making a face of disgust. I had to admit, Fang looked pretty uncomfortable.

"Unfortunately, yes," I wanted nothing more to groan at my cousin's actions.

"Good, because I think Max is about to kill her," Wolfie added. We both cast our eyes toward Max who was glaring at Fang across the hall.

"Okay, I'm on it," I nodded and walked across the hall to Felicity. The other Slytherins didn't so much as cast me a second glance, we had many discussions before in the great hall. Although I noted Parkinson rolling her eyes and turned to talk to Malfoy, who was still complaining about the injury that had happened in a Care of Magical Creature's class. "May I speak with you a bit more privately?" I asked. Felicity frowned and looked at Bagheera, she didn't comment but she knew if I was asking her for a private chat it was important.

"Sure," She said and turned to her friends, "Shouldn't be too long, girls. If you finish before I'm back, I'll meet you in the common room." Her Slytherin gang just gave a nod and with that Felicity and I were out into the corridor. "So, what is it? And where'd you get the cat?"

"The cat isn't important," I said, Bagheera seemed to disagree and let out an annoyed meow. "Isabelle owled me," I said.

"She owls us all the time. You didn't leave anything at home, did you?" Felicity said.

"No," I was getting frustrated with her. "Black is out. You know that right?" I added.

"Sirius is all over the news, Cass," She added, "It's pretty hard not to know."

"I'm talking about Alohomora," I growled. Felicity went quiet for a moment, a look of pain crossed over her face.

"Look, I don't want to talk about her and I don't imagine Aunt Isabelle does either," she said it harshly, but I knew it wasn't directed at me. "So, what did she say?"

"Connor, he's had a relapse," I said. Approaching the subject of our uncle was a tricky one, he'd never been the same after what had happened.

"St Mungos?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, "St Mungos." A pause happened again, she looked down at her feet. Bagheera meowed again and rubbed her cheek against my arms…if cats had cheeks. She was a little bit of comfort although I'd never admit that out loud.

"Well, when we visit him, we'll be strong," Felicity said determined, "For Isabelle."

"For Isabelle."

-oOo-

I took the familiar path back to Gryffindor tower, Wolfie beside me. Potter, Granger and Sidekick-Weasley were in front. Max and Iggy were trailing behind us. Despite my semi-crazy uncle and Alohomora being out and about I was full and happy, although I was tired and ready to go to bed. Bagheera had fallen asleep in my arms and for once I wished I was a cat. However, when we got to the corridor with The Fat Lady, the corridor was jammed full of students.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" Sidekick-Weasley asked, for once he'd asked a vaild question. Wolfie next to me frowned and turned to look behind her at Max and Iggy.

"Let me through, please," Came Percy Weasley's annoying voice. He somehow managed to worm his way through the crowd, making himself seem all important and noble. "What's the hold up? You can't all have forgotten the password-" that comment made me want to hex him, "-Excuse me-I'm Head boy-"

And then silence fell over the crowd, from the front first and then a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. I heard Percy take a sharp intake of breath and then in a sharp voice "Someone get Professor Dumbledore. Quick!"

Naturally, everyone suddenly went back to standing on their tip toes and trying to get a look at The Fat Lady.

"What's going on?" Girl-Weasley asked.

Next moment, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward The Fat Lady, all the Gryffindors squeezed together and somehow Potter, Granger and Sidekick-Weasley managed to make it to the front.

"Oh, my-" Hermione exclaimed and grabbed Harry's arm. I needed to see it now and Wolfie and I together managed to move forward. Both of us gasped in unison,

"What is it? What's going on!" Iggy said and I heard Max whisper to him.

The Fat Lady, had vanished. Her portrait had been slashed so horribly that strips of canvas littered the floor and great chunks of it had been torn off completely. I heard Bagheera hiss, she'd woken up during the noise. Dumbledore turned, a sombre look in his eyes and three Professors were hurrying down the corridor, but from where I was standing I couldn't see who they were.

"We need to find her," Dumbledore said, "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr Filch at once and ask him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" Came a cackling voice. Everyone knew the owner of it. Peeves. He was bobbing over us in delight as he often did with wreckage and worry.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore, instead he adopted a voice that was only slightly better than his cackling.

"Ashamed, your Headship sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing," he added, unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" Said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh, yes, Professorhead," Said Peeves. With the air of one cradling a bombshell in his arms, I felt a pit of dread building in my stomach. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over, and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs, "Nasty temper he's got, Sirius Black." Those words sent a chain reaction through the crowds. I was so stunned I almost dropped Bagheera who hissed again, sounding shocked herself. I turned to Wolfie, Max and Iggy all of whom looked to be confused rather than shocked.

I knew what everyone was thinking, which was: Oh my god! Sirius Black was here.

What I was thinking: If Sirius Black was in the castle, where was Alohomora?


	5. Chapter 5

**We do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride.**

Chapter Five: Wolfie

After Dumbledore had sent for the Fat Lady to be found, all the students were moved into the Great Hall. In a way, I liked it because it meant I could sleep next to Nudge again. However, my sister was a little panicked to say the least. Cass was on my other side and her cousin, Felicity was next to her. They had pretty much become inseparable since Black had been announced to be in the Castle. I sat up, scanning the line where the flock were sleeping. We were all in a line, at the start was Fang, next was Max, then Iggy, followed by Nudge and at the end was me. Gazzy was in-between Nudge and Iggy and Angel was between Max and Fang. They were also on lock down in the Great Hall, but if they weren't I think Max would have had a fit.

"Do you think Black is still in the castle?" Came Nudge's whispered voice. I lay back down again, turning to face her. She had a worried expression on her face that I had only seen a few times before. Once was when Angel had been kidnapped by the school.

"I think if he's smart, he'll have cleared out," I added. I heard Cass's new-found Cat make a noise but didn't turn to look at her.

"What if he's not? What'll they do to him?" Nudge asked. I'd read about the Wizarding Prison in a book, it'd caught my interest. I'd also read about Dementors, which were the reason we'd crash landed in Hogwarts.

"Don't worry about it, Nudge," I said, I put my hand out and she held onto it. Our cages in the school had always been next to each other and when we were younger, we'd sleep holding hands through the bars. "He's just a bad guy, we've dealt with worse than one crazy man." I added.

"You mean one crazy man, and probably his equally crazy wife," Nudge chimed in, I seemed to forget about Alohomora.

"Just let the people searching do their job, and we will be back in our dorms before we know it," I added, I even smiled a little and she seemed a lot calmer. I closed my eyes again, ready to finally sleep.

"Wolfie?" Nudge's voice sounded unsure again. I opened my eyes, her worried expression was back again.

"Yes, Nudge?"

"What do you think is going to happen, with the flock I mean?"

"The flock?" I said, frowning.

"Well…Dumbledore said Angel and Gazzy couldn't stay here forever. What if they go to live with a new family? I mean they're cute and little, what happens with us? What if we all get split up and sent to different places to live? I mean, who is going to take on seven kids?" She rambled. It'd dawned on me that I hadn't even thought about that. I had been so focused on trying to catch up, trying to fit in here that I hadn't thought that far ahead.

"We'll never be split up, Nudge. Besides, Max has to approve where they end up and where we end up, no way in hell is she going to agree if the flock get split up." I didn't know who I was trying to convince more, me or Nudge. "I'm not going to live any place that my family doesn't live." I added more forcefully. Being split from my flock was not an option.

"She's right, Nudge," Iggy spoke and Nudge and I both jumped, we'd forgotten other people, especially the guy with epic hearing, were probably listening in. "We are in this together." I heard the rest of the flock murmur in agreement.

"Will you guys go to sleep!" I heard Max call at the end of our family moment, she sounded like an annoyed mother telling her toddlers off for not having a nap. I also heard Angel giggle at this. Despite there being a mass murderer on the loose, I felt safe, because I had my family. We were all together…for now.

-oOo-

After the incident with Black, it didn't surprise me overly much to have the flock sat in Dumbledore's office. I looked around, Max was sitting in one seat, Angel on her lap and Fang was in the other, Gazzy on his lap. Nudge, Iggy and I were behind them, I was in the middle. Nudge was clinging onto my hand so hard I was scared she might break it, but Iggy was getting the same treatment off of me. All the flock were staring directly at Dumbledore, who was smiling kindly at us in return. It should have calmed me down, but for some reason it didn't. I just wanted to grab Angel and Gazzy and run for the hills. There was only one reason Dumbeldore had called the Flock here: he'd found a place for Angel and Gazzy to stay. Nudge and I glanced at each other and I knew it had dawned on her as well.

"Now, you are probably wondering why I called you here," He began, no one in the Flock replied and Nudge began to fidget next to me. "Well, we have found a place for young Angel and The Gasman to live." Max stiffed in her seat as he said this and I saw Fang cast a glance toward her. "Now, I know our agreement," His twinkling eyes landed on Max, "You get final approval of whom they live with, but I think you'll like this couple. I also think you'll like that they have offered to house all of you as well as Angel and The Gasman." I heard Nudge take a sharp intake of breath, I did the same. We were all going to get to live together? Surely this wouldn't last long, Erasers were bound to attack and then the couple would want to be Flock free after that. But for a short time, we would all get to live together! Nudge squealed excitedly as the realisation hit her too and hugged me tightly.

"Oh my god! This is fantastic! We all get to live together! Be a family! Like not our crazy family, a real family, with a real house again and possible real parents and a life. We get to go to school and be normal and have fun and this is-"

"NUDGE!" The flock called out in unison and Nudge sheepishly let me go.

"Don't get too excited," Max said, looking at Nudge and I, "I still haven't agreed yet, I need to see this couple and the house." I watched Nudge deflate like a led balloon. Most of the time that meant Max was going to be difficult and say no. I got that she cared, and she didn't trust Dumbeldore, but had he really given any reason for her not to trust him?

"Of course, I shall go and collect the couple," Dumbledore smiled and looked at Nudge this time, he left the office and I got it was also a way to get us to talk.

"Max, this is going to be a good thing," Angel said, "I can read their minds and tell you if they are good or bad," she added, but this idea didn't seem to comfort Max. We all knew it, Angel was her baby and Max was not going to be alright just handing her over.

"Let's just see them first," Fang added, he was always the voice of reason but Nudge's disappointed face was somewhat heart breaking.

"Let's give them a chance, at least," I also added, looking more at Max than anyone else. Before Max could comment Dumbeldore walked in. With him was a man with bright red hair, although he was balding slightly, and a woman who was small, and round with matching vibrant red hair. The woman had a kind smile on her face and she was extremely warm and welcoming and her husband was just as inviting. I saw Angel get a massive smile on her face and she even jumped off of Max's lap, which caused Max to stand immediately. I whispered a quick description to Iggy, who seemed to nod in approval.

"I'd like you all to meet Molly and Arthur Weasley, they have agreed to adopt you all after I explained the situation," Dumbledore smiled. I thought Nudge was about to pass out and I was prepared to catch her. Adopted? That meant it would be official, we would officially have parents. Max frowned.

"You're the twin's parents," Iggy said, staring in the direction I pointed him in.

"That's right dear, Fred and George are our children," Mrs Wealsey said with a smile.

"So that means Ron is as well," I added,

"And Ginny!" Nudge smiled, she and Ginny did get along.

"And..Percy," Fang didn't do overly well in hiding his disgust.

"Oh yes, all ours," Mr Weasley added.

"That's a lot of responsibly, to take on seven more children when you already have five," Max said, eyeing them up.

"As Dumbledore said, he explained the situation and we are more than happy to help," Mrs Wealsey said and smiled at Angel, "You must be Angel." Angel nodded excitedly, the same look in her eyes as Nudge. We had never had parents, and the idea of having some was terrifying to me, but to Angel, Gazzy and Nudge, it seemed like a dream come true.

"Dumbledore told you our agreement then?" Max added, stepping in front of Angel, who frowned and ran, standing next to me. She hugged me around my waist and I knew she was worried Max was going to mess this up. The Weasley's however just nodded and walked over to the fireplace, Dumbeldore at their side.

"We shall Floo to our house and talk more there, Max," Mr Weasley said. It occurred to me that Dumbledore must have talked in great detail to them, because they knew all of our names. Max nodded and walked to the fireplace.

"I'm going as well," Fang added quickly, he pushed Gazzy toward me and he copied his sister's actions. The remaining Flock members watched, as Max and Fang disappeared in a puff of green smoke. Now all that was left to do was wait and I could tell by the downcast looks that none of us thought Max was going to agree to this.

-oOo-

It had been a long wait, at least a couple hours, stuck in Dumbeldore's office. Nudge and I had taken up the seats Max and Fang had left behind. Angel on my lap, Gazzy on hers, and Iggy was sitting in Dumbledore's seat. Professor Lupin was watching us, but he seemed tired and ill as well, he also seemed just as fidgety. Angel was falling asleep, her head resting on my shoulder and Gazzy didn't seem far behind.

"ZOMG, they have been gone for sooo long!" Nudge complained for what must have been the hundredth time.

"We know, Nudge," Iggy snapped, I could tell he was getting anxious, "We're all here as well,"

"Well, I'm bored and worried," Nudge snapped back.

"We're all bored and worried and tired to boot, so please stop whining," Iggy countered.

"Don't fight," I said, that was the last thing we needed. I prayed that Max and Fang would arrive soon and it turned out, someone was actually listening. Max and Fang emerged from the fire, Mr and Mrs Weasley in toe and Dumbledore not far behind. We all suddenly sprang to life, standing up and staring at Max.

"Well, I thought about it and Fang and I discussed it in great detail," Max said, I felt like the room itself was holding its breath. "And…if you want to have the second name Weasley, you can, I'm keeping mine to Ride," there was a pause as we all took in what Max had said.

"You mean…we are adopted?" Gazzy asked, and Max nodded. There was euphoria around the whole room. Nudge started to cry and hugged me, Angel squealed and ran and hugged Max, then hugged Mr and Mrs Weasley. Gazzy continued to jump up and down like a hyperactive rabbit, Max looked worried, but I guess that was the thought of letting Angel go. Fang was smiling, happy with the discussion. Iggy and I had the same reaction however, we were completely dumfounded. Max had actually agreed. I looked to Mr and Mrs Weasley, who were hugging Angel and now hugging Gazzy, they both looked happy to be getting a group of bird kids, but I wasn't completely on board with this. I was however, heavily outnumbered and I don't think I could change the discussion.

That was when it dawned on me, I was no longer just Wolfie, bird kid. I was now Wolfie Weasley, bird kid and Witch. It was official.


	6. Chapter 6

**We don't own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride**

Chapter Six: Cassidy

It had been five days since Black had attacked, and the school was still a little on edge. Snape had taken over our Defence Against the Dark Arts class and it had made me want to jump out of the nearest window, without a broom. I was so happy to get out the class I pretty much ran out. For the whole week, we had been having a pretty bad storm. I had noticed a change in Wolfie and the other bird kids, turns out being cooped up made them all a bit stir crazy.

So, going to the Quidditch tournament seemed to cheer Wolfie up a lot. I had also picked up she'd been hanging around with Granger, and by extension, Potter and Sidekick-Weasley, a lot more, not that it bothered me of course. Right now however, Wolfie and I were walking to the pitch. An excitable bird kid named Nudge, who Woflie had introduced me to, was also there. Merlin, that girl could talk for Britain, or America. The rain was battering down, so it was basically just a bunch of umbrella's watching the Quidditch game. We sat in the stands, I found myself sitting with Wolife, Nudge, Sidekick-Weasley and Girl Weasley. The teams, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, were walking to meet each other in the middle of the pitch.

"Wood doesn't look too happy," Sidekick-Weasley pointed out. I had to agree with him, and if Gryffindor lost this game I doubted we would be seeing Wood for a while.

"And they're off!" Nudge giggled, I saw her eyes widen as she watched with excitement. Wolfie however looked extremely unimpressed.

"They're flying on broomsticks, big whoop," Wolfie rolled her eyes.

"Well, most of us don't have wings," Granger pointed out, shaking her head lightly at Wolfie.

"Okay, yeah you've got a point." Wolfie muttered.

"Just watch the game!" I snapped, all this talking was annoying me. Wolfie raised an eyebrow but didn't comment and we went back to the game. It didn't look like it was going too well, and we couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. I had to sit next to Granger gasping and clutching Wolife or Sidekick-Weasley's hand when Potter was almost hit by a Bludger, twice. Potter almost ran into another player to top it all off, twice. Madam Hooch blew the whistle after Wood called for a time out. I watched Granger and Sidekick-Weasley scramble up, Granger dragging Wolfie along for the ride to where Potter was standing. It was awkward for the whole time the three of them were gone, Nudge, Girl Weasley and I made no attempt to create conversation between each other. I was mildly surprised that Nudge hadn't at least attempted to talk but maybe she just sensed now wasn't the time.

"I though Wood was about to make out with you," Wolfie added as the trio arrived back.

"Yeah, nice work making Harry's glasses water proof," Sidekick-Weasley added.

"I made them water repellent, Ronald," Granger stated, sitting down.

Finally, the match started up again, Cedric Diggory spotted the Snitch and Potter was close on his tail. However, a silence had fallen over the crowd. We all knew that cold and Wolfie seemed to stop breathing next to me.

"Why aren't they stopping?" I could just make out that it was Wolfie who had spoken. It was pretty scary, one minute Potter was fine and the next he was plummeting toward the earth. "Nudge!" I heard Wolfie yell and I turned. I watched as the bird kids took off, Wolfie's black wings and Nudge's tawny ones were only just visible though the rain. It seemed like the other members had spotted what Nudge and Wolfie were up to and had joined them.

I watched as Wolfie grabbed a falling Potter, stopping him from becoming a human pancake, Nudge also helping. Dumbledore fended off the Dementors with a swish of silvery light and the Quidditch players landed immediately. Diggory, having apparently caught the snitch, was shouting about a rematch, and Wood seemed to have just lost the will to live. I made my way down to where Wolfie was standing, some of the younger kids staring at her now soggy wings.

"He'll be alright? Right?" Wolfie asked Granger who nodded,

"Of course he will." She still looked worried. They rushed Potter off, taking him to the hospital wing.

"Honestly, the hospital wing is that boy's second home," I swear I heard a Hufflepuff girl mutter.

"Poor Potter, fainting spell again," I heard Malfoy's insufferable voice.

"Shut it, Malfoy," I heard Wolfie growl, I watched Nudge take a step away from Wolfie, she'd clearly seen Wolfie mad before and didn't want to relive it.

"He's not worth it," Granger sighed, again dragging Wolfie and Sidekick-Weasley away. Nudge, Girl Weasley and I followed close behind.

Even with Black gone from the castle, we were constantly being reminded he was out there. As long as Black was at large, so would the Dementors.


	7. Chapter 7

**We do not own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride.**

Chapter Seven: Wolfie

Harry was in the Hospital Wing recovering from his fall, he was pretty devastated having lost the game and his broom. Hermione had told me how attached he was to it, that he'd had it since first year, I could see the worry in her eyes about the whole thing as well. Sure, Harry was what I'd class as a friend now, but Ron, Hermione and Harry had gone through unimaginable things together. Hermione had told me one night about the adventures they had gotten into, and I shared with her some of the stuff the Flock had done (I had left out the Erasers, I didn't want to talk about them). I knew the type of adventures the trio had experienced could make people extremely close, and the three of them were.

The night Hermione and I had talked, I hadn't been able to sleep. I had told her I was just worried about catching up (which wasn't technically a lie) but the truth was I was having strange dreams. They weren't scary, I wouldn't call them that. But I was seeing faces, flashes of red hair, grey eyes and blonde guy that I didn't know the name of, sometimes I'd even hear laughter. Tonight however, the dream was much more vivid.

 _I knew I was in the Gryffindor common, but it was different. As in the people were different, I didn't recognise any of them. I walked to the couch, sitting on it was the blonde guy I had been having strange dreams about. He had a mop of curly blonde hair, he was running his hands through it, messing it up even more, making it stick up at odd angles. He had the same blue eyes as Cass, which was extremely odd to look at. He was thin, scrawny is a good word to use, and his ears seemed far too big for his head. He was rolling his eyes at the girl across from him. She was small, maybe about the same height I was. She had choppy ginger hair, like she'd done a terrible job at cutting it herself. Her golden brown eyes were glaring at him, her arms crossing, he'd clearly done something that she didn't approve of._

" _So, tell me again how this girl's lips ended up on your mouth?" The girl asked,_

" _Well, she was crying, I was panicking, it just…happened," the boy supplied, "She felt a lot better after it though." The girl put her face in her hand._

" _Are you going to go on a date with her?" The girl asked._

" _I'm fourteen! I'm in third year! I don't want to date! he exclaimed._

" _You seemed okay snogging," she replied._

" _Shut it, Wilde," he continued,_

" _Make me, Grayson." That caught me off guard…Grayson? I looked at him more, he did have some of Cass' features, although her OCDness didn't seem to come from him. His uniform was a mess, his tie looked like it had been mauled by a rabid animal, and he seemed to lack the ability to tuck in his shirt. The girl, Wilde, seemed to have a better presentation, ignoring the hair-do of course._

" _Look, she's nice and all, but I don't ever want to date," Grayson added, crossing his arms, "I don't want to be involved with girls, they're too much hassle." He stated. That earnt him a smack up the head from Wilde. "Okay, ow, abuse much?"_

" _You deserved it," she stated, "If you don't want to be involved with girls, don't go around snogging random ones."_

" _Trust me, I won't. I'll never snog another girl again!" He declares. I don't know why girls would want to snog him personally, he wasn't exactly a looker. I mean, the kid was, for lack of a better phrase, ugly. Everything seemed so awkward, nothing seemed to look right on his face and the more I analysed him the more I noticed it wasn't just his ears that were out of proportion with the rest of him, his mouth was in the running too._

" _You won't get another snog, so no need to panic. You caught her on an emotionally traumatic day, and you were the only one around," Wilde added, she seemed to be insulting him more than comforting him. She wasn't exactly drop dead gorgeous but she wasn't ugly either, she just seemed average. The most noticeable thing about her was her eyes, which seemed a little bit too big for her face. She was pretty skinny herself, maybe a little bit too skinny in a sense._

" _Hey! I don't see anyone lining up to snog you? You look like an eight-year-old boy." Grayson snapped. That just got him another smack up the head, "OW!"_

" _You're an arsehole," Wilde stated._

" _I'm your arsehole," he smiled sweetly, which seemed odd._

" _I'm the only one that'll put up with you, that's why," The girl stood up._

" _Hey! Grayson! Come check this out!" I heard a boy call from the other end of the common room, I frowned and looked a cross. He had longish dark hair, and his grey eyes looked at the girl up and down. "Don't bring, Wilde," The boy added._

" _Thanks, Black, so kind of you," Wilde rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and glaring at the other boy. That's when I froze, wait…Black?_

I woke up, flailing a little and landed with a thud on the dorm floor. "Ow," I stated sitting up and glaring at the bed.

"Do you mind!" Lavender snapped, before turning her back on me. I looked at Cass, who seemed pretty dead to the world, mind you so did Hermione and Parvati, so I must not have made that much of a noise.

"Sorry," I muttered and Lavender just huffed. I sat on my bed and looked at the clock, it was 2 am and I needed to get to the flock. Max was easy enough to access, I just needed to figure out how to get to the others. After about half an hour of internal debate I finally decided to go wake Max. I left the dorm as quietly as possible, I didn't want to face Lavender's wrath again. I made my way up to the fifth year dorms. I peered inside, thanking my enhanced vision for letting me find Max without the need of a light.

I felt like a little kid sneaking into their parent's room after a nightmare. For some reason, my master plan to not wake the other members of the dorm was to get on my hands and knees and crawl to Max's bed. It was going swimmingly, until that enhanced vision let me down and I butted head first into a bed, a bed that wasn't Max's.

"What the-" I was now sitting on the floor, looking up at one Angelina Johnston. The girl didn't look pleased, mind you I'd be grumpy too if I had been woken up by a kid head butting my bed. "Who are you?" she asked, she then seemed to click, "MAX!" Angelina hollered. That successfully woke up everyone else in the dorm. The lights were turned on and I had to blink at the sudden harshness, looking at Max who had an eyebrow raised. "What is your sister doing in here?" Angelina asked, rather grumpily. The girl was normally quite pleasant, but I suppose I had woken her up.

"I have no idea," Max said getting out of bed. It then dawned on me that I was still sitting on the floor and I jumped up quickly.

"I just..I umm…needed to talk to you," I said quietly, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. Max nodded, and took my arm.

"Just go back to sleep," She told the other girls. Angelina muttered something, but I couldn't quite make it out as Max and I left the dorm. "What is it? It's half two in the morning?" Max added.

"I know, but I..I've been having these odd dreams and I just..I need to tell you and Iggy about them. We can't get the others just now." Max raised an eyebrow, but nodded, leading me down the stairs. I then realised I was going to have to perform the whole act again, and drag Iggy's blind butt out of bed. Max and I walked up to the fifth year boy's dorm, and I peered inside. I could hear Iggy's light snoring, and he looked to be in the furthest away bed…typical. "It smells like teenage boy," I whispered to Max as we tip toed our way over to Iggy.

"You mean BO," Max added and rolled her eyes. I jumped a little as I noted one of the Weasley twins muttered something…pudding seemed to be the word. It was a relief to see they were still all asleep, all so peaceful. I shook Iggy awake and he sat up right away, he looked like he was about to punch Max out of instinct.

"Iggy, it's just us," I whispered and he relaxed, "Do you think an attacker would shake you awake?" I added. Iggy cursed and turned to look in my general direction.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Iggy added, not to quietly. I heard another boy snore, man these guys could sleep through anything.

"I'll explain out of ear shot of other people, just come on," I added, tugging his arm. Iggy grumbled and Max just sighed, shaking her head and following us out.

Once I got Max and Iggy into the common room, I explained everything. They were quiet for a moment, before Iggy broke the silence.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, "You've got a power?!" The three of us looked each other. Did I? We used to think I only had one power but after coming here we worked out it wasn't that special. So everyone else in the flock had one except Iggy and I: Nudge was a technocpath, Angel was a mind reader, Max was super speedy, Fang had his weird camouflage thing and Gazzy could imitate voices. So, Iggy and I were the ones with no special abilities except the flocks shared ones, until now.

"What even is it though?" I asked, "All I've been seeing is a ginger girl and a big eared boy?"

"Well, you said the common room was different and you said you saw Black?" Max stated, "So maybe you are seeing the past?" That caused another paused between us.

"Well, Grayson just said Black," I frowned, "But Cass' second name is also Grayson and they did seem similar.

"Look, let's just go to bed and try not to dwell on it. If you have another one, then we will work out what it is," Max looked at Iggy and I. It was easy for her to say that; she wasn't having these so called 'visions'. I was tired though, too tired to argue.

"Okay, deal." I said.

-o-O-o-

It was a Hogsmeade weekend that weekend. Max, Iggy and I had filled Nudge and Fang in on the whole 'vision' thing that morning. They were equally as shocked and had also agreed to Max's 'ignore it, until we can't' plan.

However, now I found myself in the Three Broomsticks with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry wasn't supposed to be here though, seeing as no one signed his permission slip. The three of us were talking, just enjoying being around one another. I had discovered I liked hanging out with the trio, and was grateful they had accepted me into their group since I didn't really have any other friends outside the Flock. Hermione had been extremely helpful in getting me caught up and showing me around and the boys had been just as helpful in making sure I didn't get lost. I was laughing at something Ron had said, when I almost choked on air.

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just entered the pub with a flurry of snowflakes, shortly followed by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with a portly man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstriped cloak.

"It's Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic!" Ron whispered

"Oh who cares! Professor MaGonagall's here and Harry is not supposed to be here!" Hermione snapped pushing Harry's head under the table.

We watched as the teachers and Fudge moved toward the bar, paused, then turned and walked right toward us. Hermione subtly pulled out her wand and whispered, " _Mobiliarbus_!"

The Christmas tree beside our table rose a few inches off the ground, drifted sideways, and landed with a soft thump right in front of our table, hiding Harry from view. I watched as the group sat at the table right next to ours, biting my lip nervously.

Next I saw a women walking to the table, I recognized her as Madam Rosmerta. I turned my head to look at Hermione who was across from me.

"A small gillywater —"

"Mine," said Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Four pints of mulled mead —"

"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid.

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella —"

"Mmm!" said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips.

"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."

"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us…"

"Well, thank you very much, Minister."

I heard the glittering heels march away and back again. Why hadn't it occurred to us that this was the last weekend of term for the teachers too? How long were they going to sit there? I was starting to fidget nervously but a stern look from Hermione made me stop.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" came Madam Rosmerta's voice.

I looked out the corner of my eye, Fudge was fidgeting nervously, like he was looking for people listening in. Then he said in a quiet voice, "What else, m'dear, but Sirius and Alohomora Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?" I did remember, the Fat lady was still traumatized. We now had Sir Cadogan guarding Gyrffindor Tower, which wasn't enjoyable. Was Fudge still worried about the Black's entering the school?

"I did hear a rumor," admitted Madam Rosmerta.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" said Professor McGonagall exasperatedly.

"Do you think the Blacks are still in the area, Minister?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.

"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly.

"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away… It's very bad for business, Minister."

"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution… unfortunate, but there you are… I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore — he won't let them inside the castle grounds."

"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"Hear, hear!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground.

"All the same," demurred Fudge, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse… We all know what the Blacks are capable of…"

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius and Alohomora Black were the last I'd have thought… I mean, I remember them when they were at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what they were going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "Alohomora's story is known, among the adults anyway." He paused then continued, "But the worst of what Sirius did isn't widely known."

"The worst?" said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do," said Fudge.

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured Professor McGonagall. "Do you remember who his best friends were?"

"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Sirius was hardly ever seen without James Potter, and of course Lupin and Pettigrew," Harry dropped his glass with a loud clunck which caused Ron to kick him, my eyes widened a little.

"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Sirius and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. All very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a load of troublemakers —"

"I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in Professor Flitwick. "Inseparable!"

"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Sirius beyond all his other friends, nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry and Alohomora was the godmother. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him," There was a pause among the adults, I could see Hermione still holding Harry's head.

"But it gets worse even than that, m'dear…" Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.

"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said Professor McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed —"

"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta.

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seemed to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it —"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet.

"Shh!" said Professor McGonagall.

"I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead… an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!" Hagrid roared.

"Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"

"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him —' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he said "I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him. But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em anymore…"

"What about Alohomora? She wasn't the Potter's keeper!"

"No, her crimes were not to against the Potters, surely you know that Rosemerta," Fudge continued, I frowned, I had wondered. I could tell Harry was itching to get out. He had just found out why his parents were dead, yet, he had to stay hidden.

"I've heard rumors, her trial was very public, after all she was caught after the war…" Rosemerta added.

"Ah well, Alohomora was just as bad as her husband." Fudge shook his head, "The fire she set killed the entire family, even the children, it was horrific." I could see Ron fidgeting nervously, clearly this was a well-known thing in the wizarding community.

"Yes, the Graysons, an influential wizarding family.." another paused, Grayson? As in Cassidy and…and the Grayson from my vision. "Alohomora was a known friend of one of the siblings." I frowned.

"Yes, I remember them. The Ministry caught up with them though, didn't they?" Rosemerta added.

"Alas, if only we had." Fudge sighed, "Alohomora was caught quickly, but her crime happened almost a year after her husband's. Sirius was another story all together," said Fudge bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew — another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself."

"Pettigrew… that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said Madam Rosmerta.

"Hero-worshipped Black and Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I — how I regret that now…" She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.

"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses — Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens…"

Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy… foolish boy… he was always hopeless at dueling… should have left it to the Ministry…"

"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around with wands, I'd 've ripped him limb from limb," Hagrid growled.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," said Fudge sharply. "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him… a heap of bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments —"

Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound of five noses being blown.

"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. The Blacks have been in Azkaban ever since."

Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh.

"Is it true they're mad, Minister?"

"I wish I could say that they were," said Fudge slowly. "I certainly believe their master's defeat unhinged them for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate man — cruel… pointless and Alohomora was truly in desperation to prove herself if she was willing to kill her best friend and his family all for You-Know-Who. Yet I met the Blacks on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them… but I was shocked at how _normal_ the Blacks seemed, although Alohomora seemed affected a little bit, she'd occasionally mutter. But, they spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought they were merely bored — he asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on them — and they were some of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside their doors day and night."

"But what do you think they've broken out to do?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, they aren't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, are they?"

"I daresay that is their — er — eventual plan," said Fudge evasively. "But we hope to catch the Blacks long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing… but give him back his most devoted servants, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again…"

There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass.

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle," said Professor McGonagall. The teachers and Fudge got to their feet and the door of the Three Broomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow, and the teachers had disappeared.

"Harry?" Hermione said

The three of us looked under the table. We all stared at Harry awaiting his response. He fled from under the table and raced to the door.

"Poor Harry," Hermione shook her head. The three of us stood quickly, rushing after him. There was a lot of information to process, and if I were Harry, I wouldn't know how to deal with any of it.

We followed him to a snowy path, you could see the shrieking shack in the background. I could hear him crying a little, which was the most heart breaking of all.

"He's was their friend!" Harry cried, "They trusted him! And he betrayed them! He was their friend!" he continued. Hermione sat down next to him, comforting him as best she could. As did Ron and I. We all sat, around that cold stone, I took Harry's hand, wanting him to know he wasn't as alone as he felt, and Hermione did as well.

After a while, Harry calmed down. He didn't say much, just stood up and muttered "Let's go." So, the four of us made our way back to the castle.

I frowned, and paused, I had noticed a wanted poster pinned up against a tree. I was curious, I wanted to see what the Blacks looked like. I walked over and that's when I froze. A pair of golden brown eyes were staring back at me.

"Wolfie?" Came Hermione's voice. I was speechless I couldn't answer her. I was having dreams of one Alohomora Black, the red headed girl from the Gryffindor common room. Oh god, I was having visions of Cass's dead relative.


	8. Chapter 8

**Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson.**

Chapter 8: Cassidy

I sat on the train, watching the flurry of snow cascade outside. It was Christmas, and that meant I was to return home. I sighed, Felicity was around as well, our Aunt always had us return home on the holidays. We were a family, and that meant following the normal family obligations and seeing one another during the holidays. This time however, I had brought Bagheera along with me, which the cat did not seem overly thrilled about. She kept looking at me, with her tail flicking and occasionally letting out a cry.

"Look, I couldn't leave you, Wolfie would forget to feed you," I told her and petted her head gently. She huffed and just curled up next to me, accepting her fate. I sighed at that, I had become oddly fond of the stray that had followed me home, I'd even gotten her a collar. It would be weird, returning home. With the Black's on the loose, my aunt had become far more controlling, far more on edge and I sensed this Christmas would not be a joyful one. The train pulled into the station and I grabbed my trunk in one hand and Bagheera in the other. The cat made a noise of annoyance, it looked like she'd been sleeping and I had just disturbed her. When I managed to lump my cargo off the train, I saw Felicity had already gotten to aunt Isabelle.

Aunt Isabelle was a strict woman, she was currently in a suit, her white blouse was neat and pristine as always and her robe showed her as a ministry official. I looked to see dark hair pinned back out of her face and her arms were folded and she was tapping her foot in annoyance. I was late.

"So kind of you to join us, Cassidy," Isabelle said impatiently.

"Sorry, Aunt Isabelle," I held Bagheera close as she hissed at Isabelle.

"What is that?" Isabelle raised an eyebrow, her dark brown eyes cast upon Bagheera.

"I found her, this is Bagheera," I tried to calm the cat down, but she kept hissing.

"Odd name, just keep it under control," Isabelle then turned on her heel leaving Felicity and I to obediently trail along after her.

-o-O-o-

This Christmas dinner was one that was extremely quiet. I looked to Felicity who had her head down, and I followed suit. It hadn't been this strained before, but with Black's on the prowl, Isabelle was extremely on edge. That, and both Felicity and I knew my Uncle Connor was having an episode, like he occasionally got. I looked to Isabelle, scanning her face and realised how tired she looked. Often, my aunt would sit with Connor as he cried, screamed and howled about the fire, about our family. It was draining on her, heart-breaking for her and it made her all the more closed off and cold. I didn't know what to do in this situation, I just knew that keeping quiet was the safest option, Felicity however seemed to forget self-preservation.

"This is a lovely Christmas," She said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Felicity…" I said in warning. Antagonising Isabelle would just lead to an argument, and I'd rather have a silent dinner than one filled with shouting.

"Don't _Felicity_ me!" Felicity snapped, a glare shot in my direction.

"Girls," Isabelle tutted, "This is no way to act, especially at dinner." She then went back to eating, in the prim and proper way. I sighed, hoping Felicity would drop it, she did not however.

"What, so we are just supposed to sit here?" Felicity set her fork down, "I came here to be a family, not be skittish around one another. I'm not letting the Blacks ruin my Christmas!"

"Do not mention them!" Aunt Isabelle snapped, her eyes dangerous.

"The Blacks, the Blacks, the Blacks!" I was stunned looking to Felicity as she stood. "I'm not afraid of them." She added.

"You should be you foolish girl," Isabelle was now standing, meeting Felicity. "Alohomora killed this family, the only people she didn't get are either in this room or at St Mungos." A silence fell among us. Both women in front of me where breathing heavily, and I knew this was not going to end well.

"Stop it!" I said, looking between them. "We have this fight constantly!"

"Why shouldn't we talk about it?" Felicity said, "I want to hear about my parents, to know their stories. I want to know more about them than that stupid fire."

"That stupid fire killed them," Isabelle's voice was dangerous, "Killed them all, left Connor in the state he's in." She looked between us. "Alohomora Black did that to us." There was another silence at that. This was a story I knew well, a story both Felicity and I were told from a young age.

When I was just over a year old, Sirius Black had been arrested. It was told through the news and whispers, he had murdered so many muggles, he had left a scar on the world. His wife, one Alohomora Black in turn left her own. It was said to be that she was overcome with grief. She had lost her husband, someone loyal to the dark lord, and she needed to show her loyalty. That's when, on my Uncle Michael's 24th birthday, she set fire to our family home. My mother and Felicity's parent's perished in the flames. Aunt Isabelle, Uncle Connor, Felicity, me and my father survived. Isabelle was left with us, but Connor and my father went after Alohomora. She was said to be mad, and during the battle my uncle fought bravely, my father torn, but defending his family fought by his side. I lost both my parents to that woman. One killed in the fire and the other was murdered in cold blood by his best friend.

Alohomora Black's actions that night had shaped my family's future. Isabelle raised Felicity and I, but Connor…he was so scarred by what he saw, that we might as well have lost him to. He lives in St Mungos, normally in a vegetative like state. He has episodes, like the one he is having now. He'd spend his night screaming about the fire, pleading and crying about my family's lost souls. And Isabelle would always be there to try and sooth him. It seemed to happen every couple of months, but with the Blacks on the loose, Connor seemed to be far more agitated.

"We know!" Felicity in turn shouted back, I could see the pain in her eyes. "I know, but just for once... For once I want a Christmas dinner the Blacks haven't affected." She shook her head and fled the room, hiding her tear stained face.

"You haven't been dismissed!" Isabelle shouted back, I looked to my aunt.

"Let her be," I said, looking to where my cousin had just fled the scene. My aunt sat back down, a hopelessly lost look on her face. She started to eat again, because this was old news, this was our past.

Nothing like a good old family Christmas. I wish I could have just stayed at Hogwarts.


End file.
